In a quirk of history, the service from London Paddington to Worcester was part of Network SouthEast back in the day (just as Waterloo to Exeter was!) so qualifies for Network Railcard discounts.

If you have an Annual Gold Card (ie – any season ticket issued in the SouthEast) you can upgrade to first class for £5.00. Single OR return.

Crucially, this fact seems hidden from the staff.

So, on my day trip, the following happened:

– Staff at Paddington issued wrong ticket, over charging me by £15– Resolved on the day but adding 20 minutes to time at ticket office– In Worcester, realise Paddington staff have issued wrong ticket for journey home – Staff at London Midland Worcester had no knowledge of Network Railcard discounts so tell me to sort it out on train. – Accused of fare evasion on journey home

First Great Western acknowledged my complaint to them on 7th June but have not replied.

London Midland acknowledged my complaint to them, and replied on 7th August with a ‘our staff can’t be expected to know about every rail ticket available. We look forward to welcoming you back on board.”

I actually agree with London Midland to a point. I would not expect staff at Worcester to know about train fares from Inverness to Muir of Ord with a Highland Rail Card*. But I do expect them to know about tickets for a train that leaves the station every hour to London.

* The fact that I do know about it makes me worried about the state of rail training!

I had the misfortune to use LM as a carrier of last resort for several years. They are a joke. They cost me thousands in lost earnings when I couldn’t get to a client’s office in Birmingham a year or so ago, because they couldn’t muster a crew due to”sickness.” Day after day.

If any franchisee should be stripped of their right to operate, it is LM.

The humble opinion of some poor so and so who lost thousands because their trains didn’t turn up. Day after day.